KR101084557B1 - Network Management System and Method Using Active Jack - Google Patents

Abstract

Integrated management components within the cable facility to extend the physical reach of the network, improve network management, documentation, security, and emergency 911 suns, with Ethernet controllers and Ethernet power supplies, and use active electronic modules Thereby, a system is provided for managing and documenting a short-range communications network, having a power supply and a powered device.

Active Jack, Ethernet, Local Area Network, Media Access Control Address, Remote Network Management System, Optical Indicator

Description

SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR MANAGING A NETWORK USING ACTIVE JACKS}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to communication elements and, more particularly, to systems and methods for managing communication networks using active jacks.

As networks become larger and denser, the use of local area networks (LANs) is expanding due to the demand for a wide range of communication services. Problems with documentation and management of LANs have also increased the need for timely resolution in the event of connectivity problems. This replaces the functionality of conventional telephone networks, but is more important with the advent of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), which currently operates on the same LAN as the data service. Near field communication networks will increasingly include a role for performing a total electronic communication function in a business or home.

Systems with documentation, management, and troubleshooting capabilities should perform these functions with minimal human involvement at the access point or patch panel. In general, telephone networks and data networks have been maintained as two separate networks with their own wiring conditions and characteristics. This was mainly due to electrical problems such as the regulatory requirements of telephone service to provide lifeline functions and relatively high DC ringtone voltages.

In many respects, the LAN's wiring method has followed the telephone's wiring method including a wall jack panel leading behind a patch panel. However, cable type and characteristics remained separate. It is suitable for large offices, residential small office-home offices (SOHO) and shared residence unit (MDU) facilities.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system using an active electronic jack is provided. According to some embodiments of the invention, the active jack may be located on a wall in a corporate office, in a patch panel in a cable distribution facility, in a user device, or in two or more of these areas. According to some embodiments of the invention, the active jack is a network element (NE) on a local area network (LAN) that includes at least two 10/100 Mb / s Ethernet ports. One of the Ethernet ports on the active jack is a network port and is connected to the horizontal line of the LAN system. At least one remaining port is a user port that an Ethernet cable device, such as a personal computer (PC) or voice over IP (VOIP) phone, plugs in to access the LAN. The active jack can function as a two-port Ethernet switch that routes data between two ports.

According to one embodiment of the invention, physical location information (ie, room, floor, etc.) is associated with the MAC address of the active jack. Because the active jack has a MAC address, it sends an ARP message in response to an ARP request from the network to indicate its presence on the network when powered on or when requested. The physical location information associated with the ARP message of the active jack may be used to provide information about the connection of the configured cable system, ie the LAN cable facility.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an active jack is an electronic device that requires a DC power source that can be obtained from a power supply (PSE) such as an IEEE802.3AF compliant source. This source is deployed in the network as a DC power source for an attached powered device (PD), such as a VOIP telephone that receives power in accordance with the power-over-network method. According to some embodiments of the invention, the power consumption of the active jack is minimal, and surplus power is supplied to the PD if the powered device PD is connected.

There are several ways to supply DC power to an active jack. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a PSE device such as an Ethernet switch or an IP router is used. According to another embodiment a patch panel or a mid-span patch panel can be used. When an active jack is mounted on the patch panel, a managed rescue cable PSE system is obtained. The management range of the patch panel can be improved if an active jack is used between the patch panel and the end device.

Current methods of cable facility management and security depend on the state of the horizontal cable system and / or the patch panels remain fairly constant. In addition, changes need to be well documented and manually entered into the security / management system database. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a managed and structured cable system is provided by facilitating the monitoring of the status of a horizontal cable system of a patch cord by using an active jack. If a particular cable is removed or moved, the cabled active jack will lose its upstream network connection. The active jacks in the patch panel can periodically detect whether or not changes are made to the upstream switch via, for example, one "heartbeat" IP transmission per second. Since the PSE and PD communicate, the PSE can instantly report open in the patch code. Optionally, the active jack can send a message to a neighboring active jack to report a communication problem. When reconnected, the active jack can send an ARP message to indicate that it has returned to the line with any other device connected. Once the connection is reestablished, the switch port to the patch panel port, which is an important aspect of managing the patch code connection, is thus identified. Since physical location information can be associated with an active jack, instantaneous cable facility changes can also be recognized and logged.

Since active wall jacks are managed network elements, remote visibility is ensured by the management and operational components of the communication network. Active jacks provide remote monitoring and eliminate or reduce the need for technicians to be dispatched to determine the status of the device. The service can be stopped or restored remotely. You can also use active jacks to create and control a good list of end devices that connect to your network.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, this management and security aspect is used when a customer uses a soft IP phone or VOIP external hardware phone. The active jacks can provide Ethernet power (powering the phone) and / or can provide a physical location address to support E911 services.

To support lifeline VOIP, a PSE switch can be used that ensures that all internal switches have sufficient DC power to operate on AC power outages. According to one embodiment of the present invention, an advantage of a power patch panel having an active jack is that the upper switch can power down in case of a power failure of AC power. The traffic can then be directed to the "lifeline" VOIP gateway in the patch panel, which supports voice traffic and / or reduced data traffic.

1A is an isometric view of an active wall jack;

1B is a side view of an active wall jack;

2A is a schematic diagram of an active wall jack;

2B is a schematic block diagram of an alternative embodiment of an active wall jack;

3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate different configurations of active standard wall jacks in an outlet panel;

4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D are side views of alternative embodiments of active wall jacks in accordance with the present invention;

5 is a block diagram for explaining inputting position data into an active wall jack;

6 is a block diagram illustrating a power distribution and cable management technique for use with an active wall jack;

7 is a block diagram showing a communication network using an active jack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a block diagram illustrating an emergency power supply system with a patch panel with an active jack;

9 is a schematic diagram of a patch panel with active jacks and sharing circuits;

10 is a schematic diagram of an active jack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

11 is a block diagram implementing a patch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a block diagram implementing a patch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention;

13 is a block diagram implementing a patch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention;

14 is a block diagram implementing a patch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention;

15 is a block diagram of a communal unit network in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; And

16 is a block diagram of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1A, an isometric view of the active jack 10 is shown. The active jack 10 includes two housings 12a and 12b which form a plug receiving opening 14 as shown by the housing 12b. According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, one connector of the active jack 10 is a pug and the other connector is an insulation displacement connector (IDC). The housings 12a and 12b may be of the type used for the communication connector described more fully in US Patent No. 6,371,793, "Low Crosstalk Modular Communication Connector", inventor Doorhy et al. . A plurality of conductors 16 are mounted in the plug receiving opening 14 which form an elastic contact with the communication plug when the plug is connected to the active jack 10. The conductor 16 extends through the housing of the active jack 10 to be in contact with the printed circuit board (PCB). According to one embodiment of the invention, the PCB 18 is a multilayer structure having an x dimension of approximately 5/8 inches and a y dimension of 2 inches and having a maximum copper area fill for heat dissipation. I can support it. The housing is shown, in one embodiment, in an exploded view away from the PCB 18 to expose thermal contacts 22 to assist in thermal conduction from the PCB 18 and the device 20 to a housing element such as the device 12b. have. The active jack 10 is shown in FIG. 1B in connection with a mounted faceplate 24 of the type generally used as a communication port in the wall.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the thermal design of the active jack 10 supports the environment within the enclosure of the data outlet. According to some embodiments, heat dissipation is inefficient because there is virtually no airflow in such enclosures. The design of the active jack may include low thermal resistance contacts out of the enclosure via the connector housing 12b, as shown in FIG. 1B. In another embodiment of the present invention, the housing is made of a high thermal conductivity material, such as a metal injection material, to help dissipate the generated heat. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the electronic device 20 on the PCB 18 is installed in one or both of the housings 12a and 12b of the active jack 10.

2A, there is shown a schematic diagram of an active wall jack 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The active jack unit 10 element according to one embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a PCB 18. The device illustrated in FIG. 2A is illustrated as a functional unit that can be implemented in various integrated forms. The device includes at least dual port Ethernet physical device (PHY) 26 including receivers 28a and 28b and transmitters 30a and 30b. Although a dual port Ethernet device is shown in FIG. 2, it will be appreciated that the principles of the present invention can be applied to an active jack having two or more ports, as described below.

Receiver 28 and transmitter 30 are electrically connected to receive transformers 32a and 32b and transmit transformers 34a and 34b, respectively. Receive transformers 32a and 32b and transmit transformers 34a and 34b are also electrically connected to a plurality of conductors (FIG. 1: 16) of respective housings 12a and 12b. Such conductors may form a network side connection 37 and a user side connection 39. The PHY 26 is coupled to an Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) processor 36 that functionally forms a two-port Ethernet switch.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the power of the circuit of the active jack 10 is negative common mode voltage and the transmission transformer 34a extracted from the center tap of the receiving transformer 32a to the negative rail 38 according to one embodiment. ) Is obtained from an IEEE802.3AF compliant PSE source that supplies a positive common mode voltage extracted to the positive rail 40. The IEEE 802.3AF standard also allows negative and positive lines to be switched. The DC-DC converter 42 is connected to the negative rail 38 and the positive rail 40 to supply power to the active jack 10 circuit. A resistor 44 with sufficient resistance to the signal to the PSE with the power request device PD is located between the voltage rails 38 and 40. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, resistor 44 has a 26 kΩ resistor, although more or less resistors may be used in some embodiments of the present invention. In the power supply processing mode, the voltage rails 38 and 40 are electrically connected to the center taps of the transmitting transformer 34b and the receiving transformer 32b via an optional switch 46 such that the other downstream PD draws power from the PSE. To get it. The IEEE 802.3AF draft standard does not encompass many PDs in a given circuit and therefore the power requirements of intermediate PDs, such as active jack 10, should be very low, typically less than one watt. The optional switch 46 may be controlled by a MAC processor to provide power control for the downside PD for management and / or security purposes, as described below.

Also shown in FIG. 2A is a MAC processor 36 that controls a light emitting diode (LED) 48. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, MAC processor 36 functions as a network port identification component and stores and provides identification information on demand. There may be two or more such LEDs 48 controlled by the MAC processor 36 in the communication link, at least one indicating the status of the link and at least one indicating the transmit / receive operation. According to one embodiment the LED 48 is mounted on the PCB 18 and light is conducted out of the jack housing 12b by the light pipe 50. In alternative embodiments, the LEDs may be mounted to the housing 12 and electrically connected to the PCB 18. According to an alternative embodiment, one or more LEDs may be associated with each active jack 10 and jack housing 12. According to some embodiments of the present invention, additional LED ports or LED lights of different colors may be used to support control or monitoring of the endpoint device. For example, different colored lights or other colored lights may be used to indicate completeness of setup and to assist in monitoring and managing cable connections. Such an embodiment may provide installation or management personnel with the information needed to detect the location of a cable connection failure and indicate the location of the connection that requires attention.

2B, an alternative active jack in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown. In the embodiment of FIG. 2B, the logic chip 51 transmits communications through the active jacks, regeneration of signals by the active jacks, monitoring and reporting of data throughput, memory storage for installation instructions and user instructions, logic of the active jacks. It performs the functions of an active jack, including functions such as identification and switching of an active jack to enable or disable communication through the active jack. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the logic chip 51 includes a memory component for storing instructions templates to be followed by the installer and / or one or more data fields to be filled by the installer upon installation of the active jack. The logic chip 51 is connected to the network side connection portion 53 and the user side connection portion 55.

Active jacks in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention may be used in a power-over-ethernet environment. In such an environment, the active jack may consume power required for operation while falling below a power consumption level that recognizes the active jack as a powered device in an Ethernet power environment. Active jacks in these environments provide redundant power to powered devices.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a faceplate 24a with one active jack 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown. 3b shows another example faceplate 24b with two active jacks 10a, 10b. 3c shows another example faceplate 24c with two active jacks 10a and 10b and one passive jack 52. It will be appreciated that some alternative examples using multiple active and passive jacks may be implemented in a particular installation. 3A, 3B and 3C also show an LED indicator 49 to facilitate installation and maintenance of the active jack.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the active jack unit 10 is attached to a wall panel mounted on the wall 54 behind the face plate 24 according to one embodiment of the present invention, so that the user side jack housing 12b is shown. Connections can be made within the user area 56. The active jack unit 10 is connected to the horizontal cable 58 with a termination plug 60 that facilitates repair and testing of either the active jack unit 10 or the horizontal cable 58. Alternatively, the active jack unit 10 can be connected to the horizontal cable via an insulated displacement connector.

The active jack according to the invention also supports the use of multiple network side connections and / or multiple user side connections in one active jack unit. This example may be useful in implementations where one user device is connected to one or more networks on the network side. In addition, one or more user devices, or user devices belonging to one or more account holders on the network, may be connected to a single active jack to connect to one or more networks on the network side of the active jack. The configuration of an active jack with multiple network side connections also supports dual homing operation for the active jack. In this operation, the active jack can monitor one or more network side connections for operability. If the primary network connection becomes inoperable or suffers from other communication failures, the active jack according to the present invention can automatically switch to a secondary network connection. Providing redundant connections for redundancy of these network connections can significantly improve the reliability of network connections to active jacks using such dual homing systems.

Examples of active jacks using multiple user-side and / or network-side connections in accordance with the present invention are shown in FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D. It will be appreciated that the active jacks shown in Figures 4B, 4C, and 4D are attached to wall panels, but could alternatively be attached to other network components as desired. 4b shows an active with two network side connector housings 12a and 12c for connecting to two network side termination plugs 60a and 60b which are connected to one or more networks via two horizontal cables 58a and 58b. Jack is showing. The active jack of FIG. 4B may have a connection to one or more network connections for one connection in user area 56. Although two network connections are shown, it will be appreciated that more than two connections may be used on the network side in this and other embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4C, an active jack with two user side connector housings 12b and 12d for connecting to two user devices is shown. One network side connector housing 12a is shown for connection to the network side termination plug 60, which is connected to the network via a horizontal cable 58. This example allows two user devices to be connected to an active jack assembly. In addition, since each of the user side connector housings 12b and 12d can support the function of separate active jacks, the example of FIG. 4C allows all active jack functions to be equally applied to one or more user-side devices through a direct wall connection. Can be. Although two user-side connections are shown, of course, two or more user-side connections may be used in this and other embodiments.

4D illustrates an embodiment of an active jack in which two network side connector housings 12a and 12c and two user side connector housings 12b and 12d are used. In this example, one or more user devices, such as VOIP phones or other user devices, can be connected to one or more network side connections. The example of FIG. 4D enables dual homing applications for an active jack wall assembly having multiple user side active jacks. Thus, multiple users or multiple user devices on the user side 56 of the jack may be provided with network redundancy for failure of the primary network or other communication failure.

In a communication network, it is desirable to be able to identify the physical location of each user. This is especially important for supporting an electronic emergency 911 database for VOIP, where location information can greatly facilitate the ability of dedicated personnel to respond to emergency situations. Location information may also support management and rescue cabling. Referring to FIG. 5, an active jack 10 mounted to a wall 54 of an area 62 connected to a patch panel 64 via a horizontal cable 58 and to an IP router 68 via a patch cord 66. ) Is shown. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a particular active jack 10 is associated with physical location information in a database. In order to associate the active jack 10 with a physical location, information about the active jack in the database 70-for example, the physical location of the area 62 is, according to some examples, an E911 database or a database recognized by the E911 program. The MAC address may be associated with the MAC address.

In addition, the devices connected to the active jack 10 in the area 62 can be identified according to the item type or model, so that the list of items connected to the active jack 10 and the devices connected to the network through the active jack 10 Enable real-time monitoring of For example, a school network active jack distributed in a classroom allows for centralized monitoring of devices connected to the school network through the active jack. Thus, if a particular computer or optical projector is needed, the physical location of the computer or optical projector—in addition to the logical location of the devices in the computer network—can be readily determined as long as the device is connected to the network. According to one embodiment of the present invention, list information corresponding to the physical location of a device connected to the network may be associated with a graphical map of the physical location of the network to provide a real-time description of the location of the device within the network.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a person engaged in the installation of an active jack uses an application operating on a PC 72 that communicates with a connected local active jack 10 having its own MAC address, as described above. By inputting the location information, the physical location of the active jack and the active jack can be linked. The association of the MAC address of the local active jack 10 with the location data can be recorded in the PC 72 and then transmitted to the management database 70 after the installation work period of the active jack. In an alternative embodiment, the associated information is entered directly into the database 70 via the connected network. In another method, dedicated personnel use test instrument 74 to provide a simpler interface that achieves the same results. This test instrument 74 can perform various network tests to ensure installation and connection of the appropriate network. In another embodiment, a networked computer 76 is used to upload the location database based on the task sequence input information. The database 70 as shown in FIG. 5 may reside as part of a network manager system, as part of an IP router 68, or as part of a voice gateway for a VOIP system.

Referring to FIG. 6, three access paths are shown to illustrate a method for managing interconnect cable network 78 configured using active jack 10. The network of this configuration used in this example is a first patch panel 84 having a passive jack as a port by the patch cord 82 and a second having an active jack 10c as a port by the patch cord 86. PSE IP switch / router 80 connected to patch panel 88. In the first access path of FIG. 6, a user device 92a, such as a VOIP phone, is connected to the network 78 via a passive jack 52. The user device for use as an example of the present invention and others may be a telephone, a computer, etc., such as a VOIP phone, and may be a powered device that obtains power from a network connection. If there is an open connection somewhere in the cable system in the first connection path 90 or if the device 92a is a powered device and is disconnected from the wall jack 52, the device 92a will be powered off. This can be detected by the PSE IP switch / router 80-for example, a cabling facility problem, such as an office connection or device power down-and cannot be determined. If the patch cord 82 or the connecting horizontal cable 94a is moved, this movement can only be detected as the device 92a is powered off. A patch panel that includes an active jack as a port can be considered a managed interconnect patch panel because it requires only one patch panel and enables control and monitoring of the connection as well as a patch panel in a cross connection.

In the second connection path 96 of FIG. 6, the user device 92b is connected to the network 78 by an active wall jack 10a. In this configuration, either the cable movement or the open circuit of either the patch cord 82 or the horizontal cable 94b causes the user device 92b and the active jack 10a to power up (if the user device is a powered device). To hang up. The PSE IP switch / router 80 can then recognize in the database that the user device 92b and active jack 10a are no longer present, i.e., powered up. When power is restored (through cable switching or repair in the case of an open circuit), the PSE IP switch / router 80 recognizes that the powered device is connected by sensing the power request at the PSE IP switch / router 80. do. In addition, active jack 10a and device 92b send an Ethernet ARP message for power-on indicating that they are present on the network. The loss is sensed by the PSE IP switch / router 80 only when the device 92b is disconnected and the active jack 10a can still be reached by the management software and questioned. In addition, only when the user device 92b is disconnected and then reconnected, only the re-powered device 92b will respond to the Ethernet ARP message upon power recovery. Active jack 10a and thus user device 92b may be associated with a given physical location to assist management with notification of a destroyed service.

As shown in the third connection path 98, when the active jacks are placed in the patch panel 88, the active jacks on the wall facilitate the management of the cable facility being constructed and managed. However, there are some additional features that can be derived by having active jack technology at the patch panel and client destination. In the third connection path 98, the user device 92c connects to the network 78 by connecting to the patch panel 88 including the active jack 10c by an active wall jack 10b and a horizontal cable 94c. Connected. Patch panel 88 is, in turn, connected to PSE IP switch / router 80 via patch cord 86. In this configuration it may be isolated by open circuit generation, cable movement, and / or movement of the user device 92c and may be identified separately when the connection network is partitioned by the active devices 92c, 10b and 10c. Each of the above active devices responds to an Ethernet ARP request and generates an Ethernet ARP message in a power-on situation. For example, if there is movement of patch cord 86, user device 92c, active jack 10b and patch panel jack 10c will all be powered off. At this point the PSE recognizes that the user device has transitioned state at the requested amount of power and can only distinguish between removal of the user device 92c and open circuitry and / or movement of the horizontal or patch cord. When power is restored, all previously powered devices send an Ethernet ARP request on the network indicating that they exist. Also, if the interconnection between the port of the PSE device 80 and the active port on the patch panel 88 or the interconnection between the patch panel 88 and the active jack 10b is switched, the switching position can be determined and managed.

Referring to FIG. 7, the use of an active jack 10 to control network connection to the LAN 100 is shown. In this embodiment, user devices 102a-n, such as VOIP phones, are attached to the network through respective active jacks 10a-n at respective locations 104a-n. Although only four user devices are shown in four locations, it will be appreciated that the system and method according to the present invention may be implemented with several devices in several locations. Active jacks 10a-n are connected to patch panel 106 by horizontal cable facility 108. The patch panel 106 is connected to a PSE IP router device 110 connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to support the IEEE802.3AF draft standard with down-powered devices such as 102a-n and 10a-n. Supply power through The PSE IP router device 110 is connected to an IP router 114 that functions as a VOIP gateway and is connected to or includes a database 116. The network manager 118 is also connected to the LAN 100 and, in one embodiment of the present invention, connects various network elements such as routers 110 and 114 and active jacks 10a-n through simple network management protocol (SNMP) messages. Can be monitored and controlled According to some embodiments of the present invention, a network administrator executes a network management program for implementing network management tasks.

As shown in FIG. 2, the active jack 10 has a DC power switch 46 controlled by the local processor 36. Active jack 10 includes switch 46 and, therefore, any downstream device, by local processor 36, which enables improved security features such as, for example, endpoint isolation, device listing, and authorization. The data connectivity and power supply to the furnace can be controlled. The network manager 118 may control the network element such that network access to any endpoint may not be possible according to external stimuli such as unauthorized service requests or at periodic intervals. This can be done by the network manager 118 sending a signal to the processor 36 located in the active jack 10 to open the switch 46 at a particular location, thus preventing data flow at this location. Can be. During certain times of the day, there are applications where access to the managed network may be restricted. It also allows usage monitoring by using active jacks 10 in the network. For example, in some offices it may be useful to restrict access to sensitive or restricted Internet or intranet sites or locations. If unauthorized access is attempted, the network manager 118 recognizing this intrusion may have the option of blocking the active jack 10 as well as logging the location of the active jack being used by the requesting device.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a system according to one embodiment of the present invention for managing a cable system configured using active jacks in a patch panel as well as supplying emergency power through the patch panel. User VOIP phones 120a-n in user area 121a-n pass through active wall jacks 10a-n and are connected to patch panel 122 powered through horizontal cable facility 108. The powered patch panel 122 is connected to the upper IP switch 124, which is a routing device for the VOIP phones 120a-n in normal operation. The powered patch panel 122 is also connected to a local emergency power supply 126 such as an emergency battery and an emergency voice gateway 128 that is connected to the local emergency power supply 126. In the event of a power outage, the upper switch 124 can power down and the powered patch panel 122 can direct voice traffic to the local gateway 128. According to some embodiments, the data service may be removed during a power outage but the voice service is maintained for an emergency.

According to one embodiment of the invention, an active jack is provided in a patch panel 122, such as a three port device. In this embodiment, one port is used for user connection and the other port is used for network connection and the third port is used for connecting to emergency voice gateway 128. In another embodiment of the present invention, the connection from the patch panel 122 to the emergency gateway 128 is via a shared Ethernet connection. According to another embodiment of the invention, the patch panel uses a network side switching element to connect the network port of the active jack of the patch panel to the shared Ethernet bus 130.

9, a block diagram of one embodiment of a powered patch panel 122 is shown. In this embodiment, the active jack units 10a-x of the 24-port patch panel 122 are mounted on the common printed circuit board 132. The processor 134 is electrically connected to the active jacks 10a-x via the bus 136 to control its operation. The DC-DC power converter 138 converts the incoming power supply into the power supply required by the local circuit. For example, the power converter 138 may convert the incoming 48 volt power supply to 3.3 volts needed for the local circuit. Power for local circuitry is distributed along the power connection 140 to the active jacks 10a-x to supply power to the powered devices below. According to one embodiment, an active jack 10x is arranged to extract 48 volts from the upper PSE and distribute these 48 volts to the DC-DC converter 138 via the inlet power connection 142. Alternatively, alternative active jacks, such as active jack 10w, may also be used for power extraction, for example when drawing power from a redundant upward PSE. DC-DC power converter 138 may determine which source power (eg, 10w or 10x) will be used. In alternative embodiments additional jacks may be used for power extraction only.

Referring to FIG. 10, an alternative configuration of an active jack 144 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown. For example, the active jack 144 may be used in the embodiment of FIG. 9 where a common processor 134 and a common DC-DC power converter 138 are used and individual jacks do not need to extract power from the upper PSE. The active jack 144 of FIG. 10 is connected to the upper transformers 146 and 148 connected to the upper drivers 150 and 152, respectively, and the lower transformers 154 and 156 connected to the lower drivers 158 and 160, respectively. Include. The switch 162 is connected downwardly via the power connectors 164 and 166, via the bus 136, under the control of the processor to power the device that is operatively connected to the power connection 140 and is powered by the processor. The power distributed to the transformers 154 and 156 may be controlled. Therefore, only the lower transformers 154 and 156 need to be provided with a center tap to supply power. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the switch 162 may be operatively connected to the receive (Rx) signal and the transmit (Tx) signal to interrupt the data connection.

According to one embodiment of the patch panel 122 of FIG. 9, the active jack 10 has an integrated LED to assist the installer in a cross connection or interconnect system. FIG. 11 illustrates an interconnect system in which an LED 168 associated with an active jack 10 on a patch panel 122 can flash a pattern to emit light or assist the installer. For example, the LED can indicate which patch cord 86 or horizontal cable 108 is connected to the patch panel 122. In the example of FIG. 11, patch panel 122 is disposed along a communication path between PSE IP switch / router 170 and horizontal cable 108. According to one embodiment, the illumination of the active jack LEDs is performed via SNMP messages from the management entity. In addition to the ease of installation provided by the LED function, LEDs provide visual indications of where the inoperative cables are located, as well as visual indications for reorganizing cables within the communications network. Enable cable management. Although only one LED is shown associated with each of the active jacks 144, it will be appreciated that in some embodiments multiple LEDs may be associated with each active jack.

Another embodiment of the present invention, in which patch panels 122a and 122b are disposed in a cascaded master-slave configuration, is shown in FIG. The cascaded patch panels shown in FIG. 12 enable a cross connection system with LEDs 168 on each panel indicating the installers to which the patch cords are to be removed or installed.

According to one embodiment of the powered patch panel 122 shown in FIG. 13, for example, a 48 volt DC power supply can be obtained from the local power source 172, which is connected to AC. It may be a line PSE or an emergency DC battery pack that turns the powered patch panel 122 into a PSE device. According to another embodiment, for example, a 48 volt DC electricity supply can be obtained from one of the local jacks 10x, as shown in FIG. 9, from the upper PSE.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 14, a patch cord 176a using an active jack, such as jacks 10k and 10l, in a patch panel 122, for example a 48 volt DC electrical supply to patch panel 122. And 176b) can be obtained from two independent power supplies, PSEs 174a and 174b, thus providing redundant DC power supplies.

Referring to FIG. 15, a number of shared dwelling units (MDUs) are shown in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The use of active jacks enables service activation in individual residential units (DUs). In addition, security and management applications of communications for small office / home office (SOHO) can be facilitated. Broadband router 178 to wide area network (WAN) for external access and via patch cord 86 to patch panel 182, which may be a powered patch panel with a powered active jack. Is connected to the distribution system. Patch panel 182 may optionally include one or more active jacks 10 for management purposes. From the patch panel 182 a horizontal cable facility connects the individual locations 184a-n, which may be individual residences. Each location 184a-n includes a wall mounted active jack 10a-n and a user device 186a-n. Each active jack 10a-n has a MAC address and physical location information associated with the active jack. Power for the active jack 10 and the user devices 186a-n may be obtained from a UPS source connected to the broadband router 178 or the patch panel 182. By integrating active jacks into the user area and / or broadband router 178, remote management and diagnosis of cable infrastructure problems, improved security of cable infrastructure, service activation (ie, service turn on / off) and monitoring, Ethernet power applications, and devices Enable physical location indication of. Monitoring performance is also improved because the location of the exact physical and logical network of the problem connection can be intensively identified by the service provider without requiring a more robust investigation of the underlying location problem.

Including the advantages of the example of an active jack described herein, the shared residence unit application of the present invention can be extended to residential, office, and hotel networks. The distribution of active jacks through this network enables many useful features. One use for the active jacks 10a-n distributed over the network is an implementation of a toll-for-service system. Such a system may be implemented, for example, in a hotel where each of the locations 184a-n is a hotel room or conference room. The active jacks 10a-n can monitor the data throughput and report the data throughput to the network administrator. Thus, the network administrator may charge for the amount of data requested or sent by the devices 186a-n. Also, since each of the active jacks 10a-n is switched on / off by the network administrator, the function of using these active jacks 10a-n in position 184a-n is intensively controlled so that once The use of an individual active jack may be allowed only for the person who paid for the use of the active jack, including the ability to stop the flow of data through the active jack 10a-n when the payment has expired. Payment schemes that pay per data packet or other data unit and payment schemes that pay over time may be implemented to efficiently allocate network bandwidth to the payers. The active jacks can be distributed in a network tree structure and, thus, can be easily managed by the network administrator, for example, by several individual active jack users in the conference room without having to address the network to each active jack in the accessible area. . The active jack according to the invention can be connected to other active jacks provided in the network, and the active jacks provided in the wall can be connected to other active jacks provided in the wall or to active jacks provided in the patch panel. In addition, in some network architectures in accordance with the present invention, an active jack provided in a patch panel may be connected to another network jack provided in a patch panel.

Using active jacks in multiple residential units as shown in FIG. 15 enables identification of communication problems in each cable battlefield and thus improves cable management for the service provider. Centralized control and management of active jacks allows network administrators to determine if unauthorized network access-or network “pirating” is attempted and is also necessary to determine the physical location of unauthorized access being attempted. Provide information to the network administrator.

Active jacks integrated into patch panels or wall jacks can send connection information upstream to the remote network management system, reducing the need to send technicians to remote locations to determine the status of the device or to repair the device. This eliminates this need. Although only a few users are shown, as in the many other user examples described herein, it will be appreciated that the present invention may be used to facilitate implementations with more users.

The active jack according to the present invention can be used to extend the physical distance of an Ethernet system. By regenerating the received signal, active jacks located along the communication path increase the effective distance of the signal to enable a more robust communication path. Also, each active jack shown in some embodiments of the present invention regenerates the Ethernet signal, eliminating the need to locate IP switches and routers with patch panels. In addition, since the active jacks can be placed inside patch panels or wall jacks, the communication path can be designed to have an active jack placement with low cost and maximum benefits. The active jack may also be used in conjunction with a wireless network element, such as a wireless access point ("WAP"), to provide the characteristics of the active jack in the wireless network.

16 illustrates a block diagram of a communication network using active jacks to extend network distance. In the network of FIG. 16, network element 188, such as a switch, has a first radius "R1" through which the network element can conduct network signals over a wired connection. Thus, network element 188 has an operating region 190, represented by the dashed first circle "C1". Providing a wired connection 192 to the active jack 10 located near the perimeter of the operating area 190 of the network element 188 increases the effective area of the system because the active jack 10 can regenerate communication signals. I will. The second circle "C2" with the second radius "R2" shows the extended effective area 194 performed when the active jack 10 is used. It can be further extended by using multiple active jacks 10 or by providing additional wired connections 196 from active jacks 10 to wireless access points 198. It will be appreciated that the active jacks used to extend the distance shown in FIG. 16 may be provided as wall jacks or active jacks in a patch panel. In addition, the wireless access point 198 and the active jack 10 can be deployed in various configurations, particularly for networking applications, where the active jack can be used to regenerate signals from the wireless access point along additional cable lines. It will be appreciated that it may be provided within the area served by. In addition, although R1 and R2 are shown to be approximately equal to each other in FIG. 16, it will be appreciated that some embodiments of the present invention may use different radii. The wireless access point and the dual homing active jack (described above with reference to FIG. 4B) can be used to switch device access from the primary wireless access point to the secondary wireless access point if there is a networking problem with the primary wireless access point.

While specific embodiments and applications of the present invention have been illustrated and described, the invention is not limited to the above configuration and combinations, and various modifications, changes, and variations are not departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. I will understand what is possible.

Claims (57)

One or more user side communication connections for connection to one or more user devices; One or more network-side communication connections, at least one of which corresponds to at least one of the user-side communication connections; The network port identification component having a network port identification address associated with a network port identification component; A power management component for powering the network port identification component; And  A heat dissipation component containing a conductor member in contact with the user side panel housing of the one or more user side communication connections, wherein the conductor member of the heat dissipation component extends from the power management component to the user side panel housing A communication network wall panel comprising: an element; delete The communication network wall panel of claim 1, wherein the power management component powers one or more user devices containing a powered device. delete delete 4. The DC-DC of claim 3, wherein the power management component receives power from one or both of the user-side communication connection and the network-side communication connection and converts the power for use by the network port identification component. A communications network wall panel comprising a power converter. The communication network wall panel according to claim 1, further comprising an addressable switch for enabling or disabling data flow between at least one of said user-side communication connections and a corresponding one of said at least one network-side communication connections. The communication network wall panel of claim 1, wherein the communication network wall panel is connected to an unpowered user device through the user side communication connection, and the powered user device is connected from the communication network wall panel through the user side communication connection. A telecommunication network wall panel characterized by receiving power. The communication network wall panel of claim 1, further comprising one or more light indicators to facilitate installation, monitoring, and control of the network wall panel. The network side communication connection unit according to claim 1, wherein the number of network side communication connection units is at least two, wherein the primary network side communication connection unit of the network side communication connection unit is connected to the primary network and the secondary network side communication connection unit of the network side communication connection unit is connected to the secondary network. And wherein said communication network wall panel further comprises a switch for switching communication from at least one of said user side communication connections from said primary network to said secondary network upon detecting a communication problem in said primary network. Network wall panel. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete At least one active jack connected to at least one networking device via a horizontal cable, wherein the at least one active jack stores a network side connection, a user side connection, and identification information associated with the at least one active jack An element, and at least one light indicator indicating a connection state of the at least one active jack, wherein the at least one active jack is also connected to at least one user device at a user side connection of the at least one active jack; And the at least one active jack enables discrimination of an error along a communication path between the network device and the user device by reporting a connection status to the at least one networking device to the at least one user device. One active jack A power management component for supplying power to the user device and the storage component via a user-side connection and a printed circuit board (PCB) containing the storage component, wherein the at least one active jack comprises a heat dissipation configuration. Further comprising an element, wherein the heat dissipation component includes a conductor member extending from the power management component to a user side panel housing of the user side connection. 56. The communications system of claim 55, wherein said networking device is a patch panel. 56. The user side connection of claim 55 wherein the at least one active jack comprises a powered communication system, wherein the active jack consumes unused power from the horizontal cabling power required for operation of an active jack component. Communication system, characterized in that forwarding through.

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